This invention relates to CMOS integrated circuits, and particularly to the fabrication of N-type and P-type field effect transistors (NFETs and PFETs) for improved device performance.
It is known that mechanical stress can affect the performance of semiconductor devices. Specifically, stress affects the mobility of carriers in semiconductors. Individual stress tensor components may cause different effects on the device behavior of PFETs and NFETs respectively. A uniaxial tensile stress, longitudinally applied (that is, in the same direction as the channel current), enhances performance of an NFET but degrades the performance of a PFET. A longitudinally applied compressive stress reverses the effect; it enhances performance of a PFET but degrades that of an NFET. However, a transversely applied unlaxial tensile stress (normal to the direction of the channel current) enhances performance of both NFETs and PFETs simultaneously.
A biaxial stress will improve the NFET to a greater degree than a unlaxial stress, but will not improve the PFET because the two stress components have effects that cancel in the PFET. Previous workers have found that when an in-plane biaxial tensile stress is applied, NFET device performance improves about twofold compared to performance under uniaxial tensile stress, while PFET performance is unchanged.
In order to maximize the performance of both NFET and PFET devices through the application of mechanical stress, the stress components should be applied differently for the two types of devices. Previous attempts to use mechanical stress for device performance enhancement have not improved both NFETs and PFETs simultaneously, order to increase the speed of CMOS circuits, there is a need for a method for providing tension in both the longitudinal and transverse directions (with respect to channel current) for the NFET, while at the same time providing compression in the longitudinal direction and tension in the transverse direction for the PFET.